MP’s and dogs go back to school

By Vincent Picard

Staff writer

Both the Hamas terrorist organization and the Colombian Cali cocaine cartel wisely decided to cancel their annual meetings on Fort Carson this month due to a slight scheduling conflict.

They feared their nefarious activities would soon be sniffed out.

Fort Carson’s Company A, 759th Military Police Battalion, is currently conducting certification classes for 18 military work dog teams from Fort Carson, Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Riley, Kan. and Fort Hood, Texas. The certification, which provides extensive training in bomb and narcotic detection techniques, is held at the Mountain Post because Company A has one of only four soldiers who can certify the teams.

“I am a certification authority,” said Sgt. 1st Class Earl Gill. “Currently there are only four in the Army. Also, Fort Carson has a large training area. We have numerous areas where we can train the military dogs.

“The dog teams have been sent to Fort Carson because the military has been tasked for two big missions this year. One is the security for president electees and the other is for the 1996 Summer Olympics (in Atlanta, Ga.).”

The Fort Carson teams may also be called upon to help local law enforcement agencies with narcotic and bomb detection. The Colorado Springs Police Department no longer has a bomb dog program, and relies on Fort Carson for explosives detection. According to Gill, Fort Carson also has the largest number of explosive dog teams in the Army. He said they now number five, and will soon expand to seven dog and handler teams.

Mountain Post drug dogs also help both civilian and military police to find hidden caches of narcotics.

During the training and certification process, the dogs have to maintain at least an “A” average.

According to Gill, an explosive dog must find at lease 95 percent of the 27 different explosives hidden in five areas. The explosives are hidden in buildings, outdoors, cars and airplanes, as well as other areas. Narcotics detection teams have it a little easier — they only have to find 90 percent of the concealed drugs.

“We want to ensure, because of the workload, that our dogs are more than qualified and capable of finding any device which could possibly be hidden,” said Gill “We want to ensure the security of our people.”

If at anytime during the testing the teams fail to maintain the standard, they are sent back for more training until their performance is acceptable.

The selection process for the dogs is also stringent. According to Gill, potential military police working dog candidates are chosen for their sniffing ability. He said that the dogs must naturally turn to their sense of smell in their searches. He said only one dog in ten they test has the natural behavior suitable for a working dog.

Once a dog is selected, it is trained for patrol.

“All of our dogs are first patrol qualified to perform normal enforcement, such as searching for people,” he said. “The patrol dogs are used mostly in darkness to flush out and attack burglars.”

“I love this work,” said Staff Sgt. Wesley Garner, Co. A, 759th MP Bn. “I find a lot of trust in the dogs. When I go into a dark building, or when I’m out on the road by myself, I always have a backup who is willing to go in first.”

According to Gill, only the pick of the litter is chosen for explosives detection.

“We take our very best dogs, and they are our bomb dogs,” he said. “Because of the mission, we take the best dogs for bomb detection. The other dogs are selected for the drug program.”

Most of the working dogs the military buys are German Shepherds, although there are a few Belgian Malois. According to Gill, however, not all good working dogs have to be purchased from a dealer.

Fort Carson’s K-9 unit recently lent a helping hand to the Walsenburg, Colo., Police Department by helping to find them a potential working dog, marrying it up with a police officer and training the team to detect narcotics.

After a search, a suitable dog was found in Pueblo, and the program was established. Gill said it is already bearing fruit, the dog has already had marijuana finds.

“They will have a good program,” said Gill. “They have an excellent dog.”

Not only did the partnership help protect the Walsenburg community, it saved them money too. Gill said another local community recently paid $11,000 for one drug dog.